1. Field
The disclosed embodiments generally relate to the use of a mobile communication device to perform certain tasks and in particular to postponing the completion of a task and transferring a file relating to such task for completion to a computing device having greater application resources.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
Mobile communication devices are now capable of performing many tasks including browsing the internet, obtaining data, entering data, storing and manipulating such data, word processing and many other tasks. These tasks are restrained, however, by the limited application resources available on the typical mobile communication device.
Today's mobile communication devices enable users to, for example, check their e-mail or browse the web, while they are on the move. However, these devices generally have limited input capabilities and, for example, a task that requires writing a long textual reply to an email message may require an inordinate effort by the user. Still the user might have an idea for a reply that he or she would like to enter in abbreviated form for later use in completing the task. In addition when a task includes a search and uncovers a document, the mobile device may not support all of the formats for the wide variety of documents available to the user on the Internet. In such tasks, the user may want to check the documents later using a personal computer or other computer device that offers a wider variety of formats and resource applications. It would be advantageous to provide an application that enables the user to save the task file including its related data, documents, emails, internet sites, etc. and transfer the file to a computer device for completion at a later time using the computer device.
Applications such as Microsoft's Outlook provide a feature that allows the user to create tasks that may be synchronized with mobile devices having a calendar. This feature uses an associated application such as, “PC Suite”. These tasks may generally be described only with text and cannot link the tasks to, for example, documents, email, or other data.
U.S. publication no. 20050245245, describes a way to distribute tasks over time in a mobile terminal and deals with task completion on a mobile communication device. It relates to a method that does the task completion automatically, when the device is connected to a charging device. The charging device may be intelligent and have memory or processing power to help with the task completion. However, it is noted there is no user interaction and the charging device does not have any input capabilities. This system is designed solely to utilize the normal down time during charging of the mobile communication device to complete a task, so that the use of the mobile communication device need not be monopolized to accomplish tasks that can just as easily be performed at a later time.
In many instances it would be advantageous to save a task file created on a mobile communication device for completion on a computer device such as a personal computer (PC), laptop or the like that has superior application resources and is more easy to operate. The transfer of a task from the computer device to the mobile communication device may also be advantageous in situations where a user must travel to a different location at a time that would otherwise require an interruption in performance of a task. By transferring a task to the mobile communication device, it may be possible to work on a task, started on a personal computer for example, using the mobile communication device while traveling.